Cover Story
CBD-Centric Gifts to Keep Your Holidays Chilled Out
Seven ways to calm the hell down during this stress-filled season
New Menus, New Bourbon, New Yoga Retreat
And Bahama Bucks (finally) moves into town
The 12 Bars of Christmas
Holiday drinks specials are way better than geese a-laying
Big Changes at Fareground’s Downtown Food Hall
Antonelli’s Cheese Shop to close; new bar set to open
Wright House Rebrands to Include Sexual Health Clinic
All’s well that ends well at ASHwell
Corporate Reshuffle Signals New Era at Rooster Teeth
How the AT&T takeover at Time Warner affects the local studio
AFCA Announces Local Film Short List
Five Austin films in contention for the annual award
Turn Out the Lights, the Election’s Over
New Council, AISD, ACC boards set for action in 2019
Run-Off Results: Early Votes Come In
Harper-Madison, Renteria, Ellis lead the Council pack
D.A. / C.A. Merger Proposal Fails
Motion to combine agencies fails for lack of a second
Cute Nail Studio Offers Free Services to Trans Youth
Together with Out Youth, the salon creates a safe space for queer kids
Torino Black Blisters
Live ragers make their video debut
State to Appeal Decision in Van Boven Case
Court ruled doctor’s suit against TMB can proceed
Where, Oh Where, Did The Great Y’all Go?
Friends turned food truck co-owners turned…
2018 Run-off Election Watch Parties
Join the candidates for the final results
Commissioners Ponder D.A. / C.A. Merger
Court punts Lege agenda decision to Dec. 11 [UPDATE]
Croom and Amakiya Are Human Too
Collaboration signals solo turn for Chantell Moody
Wood & Wire Nominated for Grammy
Austin pickers earn Best Bluegrass Album nod
Weekend Wine
Countdown to the Holidays: American Sparkling Wines
Guzu Gallery Celebrates Peak TV
Binge: An Art Show Inspired by Television opens tonight
Bill Leissner: I Shot the Eighties
Event to fund photographer’s book showing the decade in Austin
Interstellar Friendship in Elijah and the Rock Creature
Canadian kid-friendly sci-fi story playing Other Worlds Austin
Go Fever Wants You to Feel
Huge-sounding new single previews Daydream Hawker
Five Pan-Asian Restaurants Share Good Food News
Plus weekly soups at Vinaigrette and Christmas drinks at Miracle
William Shatner Keeps on Trekking
On Christmas songs and The Wrath of Khan
Roma
Alfonso Cuarón bleakly romanticizes his childhood maid
Back Roads
Dark family drama works, but was better as a book
At Eternity’s Gate
Transcendent examination of van Gogh through his own eyes
The Possession of Hannah Grace
Diabolical horror in the morgue is DOA
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
Latest update of Kipling’s classic is caught in Disney’s shadow
Becoming Astrid
Pippi Longstocking creator’s life story isn’t for kids
Chef Flynn
New York’s young culinary genius is an enfant adorable
This Holiday Season, Give Political Gifts That Resist
Anti-MAGA merch, feminist nudie mags, Chron swag, and more
Snapshot: Threadgill’s Last Rodeo Show
Musicians and fans gather to say goodbye to an Austin institution
Council: They Saw the Light!
Only 101 agenda Items to go until Christmas
Books to Read and Wrap for the Holidays
Ditch that elf on the shelf so you can put all these nifty books there
Run-Off Ticker: Every Vote Really Will Matter!
Election news to use at the polls
Books to Read and Wrap for the Holidays
Gorgeous images of land and water shot from the air provide a fresh perspective on the Lone Star State
Street Corner Arts’ We Are Proud to Present …
Street Corner Arts’ staging is more than exceptional theatre; it asks thought-provoking questions about authority, perspective, and intention
Scottish Rite Dorm Admits They Failed Queer Resident
Separate rules were applied to UT freshman and her girlfriend
Books to Read and Wrap for the Holidays
One family man’s fight to survive divine assaults and a community turned against him becomes a rollicking, rambling epic, superbly rendered
line upon line percussion’s The city wears a slouch hat
John Cage and Kenneth Patchen’s experimental radio play proved an ideal vehicle for the creative daredevils of line upon line and the Rude Mechs to revive together
Death Watch: Lucky 13?
The state on pace for a baker’s dozen of executions by year end
Books to Read and Wrap for the Holidays
It’s wry and vulnerable love via text message in this YA novel set in Austin
Soccer Watch: Timely Soccer Gifts
Austin FC, the city’s future Major League Soccer club, has launched an introductory line of licensed merchandise – shirts, caps, and hoodies featuring their award-winning design – now available online at AustinFC.Fanatics.com… And/or, for more immediate satisfaction, Austin’s other pro soccer team, Austin Bold FC, will start play in the United Soccer League next March…
Court: Immigrant Detention Is Child Care
3rd Court of Appeals dismisses suit that challenged “family residential centers” that meet only minimal child welfare standards
Humanities Texas Holiday Book Fair 2018
Humanities Texas has the one-stop shop for all the lit lovers on your gift list with 26 authors on hand to sign your purchases
DPS to Audit Austin Rape Case Clearance
APD chief asks for review of cases that aren’t really solved
Playback: And the Armadillos Went Wild
Threadgill’s World Headquarters goes the way of its predecessor, the Armadillo World Headquarters, plus Black Fret offers more than just money
What’cha Watchin’?
Operations coordinator Trace Thurman on stalkers and superheroes
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
Half a century after the so-called “White Album” dropped a whopping 30 tracks on Nov. 22, 1968, a breakout 6-CD reissue explores at great length and in minute detail the methodical experimentation and network of support resulting in the Beatles’ über ambitious, sonically multifarious, and ultimately mind-blowing ninth long-player. Giles Martin, son of “fifth Beatle”…
Day Trips: Ladonia Fossil Park
North Texas riverbed a treasure chest of ancient bones
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
A late-Sixties outgrowth of the Windy City’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the Art Ensemble of Chicago evolved out of multi-reedist/composer Roscoe Mitchell’s groups, with the goal of expanding the black music experience beyond what was then considered the “confines” of jazz. Releasing its first album in 1969, the AEC erected a tent…
AISD Prepares to Slice the Apple
School district battles its budget monsters
Austin at Large: Cracking the Code
Change in our city will move at the speed of trust
Your Guide to Giving
How to donate to local nonprofits
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
Lined with trauma, Metallica’s 1988 double album … And Justice For All remains a work of grieving. Reeling from the death of bassist Cliff Burton in a tour bus tragedy, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett responded with their most nihilistic release. Riddled with post-war paranoia and a political malaise born from impotent battlefield…
Headlines
No Council Today: Last Austin City Council meeting of the year is next Thursday, Dec. 13. Highlights will include applying the city’s anti-discrimination and harassment policies to board and commission members, and a performance review plan for the city manager. Polls Are Open! Through Tue., Dec. 4, early turnout for the run-off election was at…
Holiday Gifts for Fans of the Big and Small Screen
From essential box sets to writers’ wisdom: stocking fillers and the gifts that keep on giving for your watching pleasure
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
What do you buy for the Eno-phile who already owns an Oblique Strategies card deck, the Music for Airports reissue, and the Reflection app? Music for Installations, a stunning 6-CD/9-LP set that collects the best of the 70-year-old Brit’s sound installation pieces on vinyl for the first time. A super-producer (Byrne, Bowie, U2) and the…
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
These 87 tracks in a 6-CD bundle deliver an all-encompassing purge of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks studio sessions. Only amateur Dylan devotees will reach for the single-disc release of the highlights. The deluxe edition, meanwhile, offers a sometimes painful, often revelatory deep dive into how Zimmy’s finest Seventies album awkwardly ripened to perfection.…
Public Notice: Transit, Then and Now
A lingering desire for streetcars
Finding The Wrong Todd at Other Worlds Austin
Rob Schulbaum sees double in his new film
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
As R.E.M. continues firing off 25th anniversary reissues, the absurdly massive 8-CD/1-DVD live box of the Athens, Ga., quartet in the UK drops like a bomb. Overkill? Probably. Impressive? Absolutely. Most of the box comprises two concerts: 1995’s Milton Keynes show just as the band hit its arena stride and their 1999 set at Glastonbury…
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
David Bowie charted his first platinum album with 1983’s Let’s Dance. The Little Richard-influenced disco and blues fusion, co-produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic, featured Stevie Ray Vaughan as lead guitarist on “Let’s Dance” and “China Girl.” In its wake, the English star’s turn toward MTV-friendly songwriting netted critical thumbs-down for alleged poor taste alongside…
Quote of the Week
“The defendant also provided useful information concerning .” – Special Counsel Robert Mueller, keeping his secrets while recommending a light sentence for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, briefly Trump’s national security adviser.
Five Films You Can’t Miss at Other Worlds Austin
Zoom into the future with the sci-fi film festival
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
Joe Strummer voiced arguably the most beloved of original English punk bands, the Clash. He also counted himself an urban bohemian and electric folkie, a one-man R&B and rockabilly preservation society, not to mention a fervent socialist and devotee of human potential. A journeyman explorer of world music/culture, few exuded more passion than the Englishman…
Texas GOP: Not Muslim-Free
Following Tarrant County controversy, Republican Party of Texas reaffirms commitment to religious liberty for all
The Luv Doc’s Holiday Gift Guide
What you need is enough morphine to send you sweetly into that good night
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
Long before he became Daptone Records’ leading man and the “Screaming Eagle of Soul,” Charles Bradley doubled as Black Velvet, a James Brown impersonator performing in a Brooklyn night club. Released on what would have been his 70th birthday, the Black Velvet Deluxe Box pays loving tribute in eulogizing the late, great soul singer, who…
Paxton Sues San Antonio Over SB 4
AG takes his anti-“sanctuary cities” show down the road
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Baby otters wag their tails like dogs. Cremating one body uses as much fuel as a 500-mile-plus road trip. “The Great Turkish Bombard,” also known as “the Dardanelles Gun,” was a 17-foot-long bronze cannon designed and cast in 1464 by Munir Ali to fire balls of almost 25 inches. It weighed 16.8 tons. In 1807,…
Top 10 Box Sets of 2018
Compiled by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers co-captains Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench along with their late bandleader’s widow Dana and daughter Adria, An American Treasure is hardly your standard regulation best-of. The deluxe 4-CD version offers an alternate Petty timeline composed of deep cuts, obscurities, and live and alternate takes. Yes, early hits “Breakdown”…
Dems Call for Health Care for All Texans
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa pledges to carry comprehensive health care bill to the 86th Texas Lege
Qmmunity
Queering tradition
Chronicle Endorsements
Dec. 11 Run-off Election; Early Voting Nov. 29-Dec. 7
